Impasse
Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.
Back to School
Bella sat in the principal's office next to Charlie. Principal Harold Greene was a large man, with greying hair and a florid complexion. His face was set in a permanent frown. Even when he smiled, the worry lines were never completely erased. His secretary, Shelley Cope, stood behind him holding a stack of binders.
Today the principal seemed more harassed than usual. He was confused when his secretary announced Charlie and Bella's arrival, seemingly having forgotten all about the pre-arranged appointment. When they had walked in behind Shelley Cope, he had been sorting through a pile of leaflets promoting the upcoming prom.
"What is it, Shelley?" He had complained without looking up. "As you can see, I'm rather busy."
"Chief Swan and his daughter are here, Harold." Shelley had hissed at him.
"What?" Harold Greene had looked up, his face flushing a dull red. His watery blue eyes widened when they landed on Charlie, his expression turning from annoyed to flustered when he caught Charlie's steely gaze. "Oh – oh – Chief Swan, what a most unexpected surprise."
"Not unexpected. We did have an appointment." Charlie said curtly. He had a very low opinion of Harold Greene, not overly impressed with his lackadaisical leadership of Forks High. The man was completely out of his depth, often relying on his colleagues to pick up the pieces when he made yet another blunder. "Bella's returning to school today."
"Ah, yes, of course." Harold Greene wilted under Charlie's harsh scrutiny. He moved the promotional leaflets to one side, only to end up dropping them on the floor. They flew everywhere, one landing at Charlie's feet. "Oh, dearie me." He muttered. "Shelley, would you mind?"
Shelly Cope rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath as she bent down to pick them up. Charlie bent down at the same time to assist her and they ended up clashing heads.
"Ow!" Shelley winced, straightening up and rubbing her stinging scalp.
Charlie did the same, his patience waning further. Bella had difficulty stifling a giggle. It was just too funny. Principal Greene looked like he was going to have a coronary. He moved his mountainous bulk, easing himself out of his chair and shuffling around his desk to help gather up some of the leaflets.
"Leave it! I'll do it." Charlie practically growled, sending Harold Greene scuttling behind his desk again.
Now here they were, watching as Harold Greene fumbled with Bella's paperwork, his florid complexion taking on an increasingly waxy sheen as Charlie glared at him impatiently.
"I was prepared." The principal said, continuing his long litany of excuses. "I just don't know what happened." He continued to fumble and fuss until Shelley took over and found the appropriate forms for Charlie to sign.
When this was finally done, Harold Greene smiled ingratiatingly at Charlie, obviously waiting for him to get up and leave. "Well, that's all done. Now Bella off you go to classes. Its good to have you back. You were missed."
Liar, Bella thought to herself.
"And it was a pleasure as always to see you again, Chief Swan. Good day to you both."
"No, I will not bid you good day." Charlie snapped, losing his cool completely. "During our prior phone conversation, you promised that you would find Bella some assistance. Her leg is still encased in plaster in case you haven't noticed. And where is her timetable? She has no idea where any of her classes are."
Harold Greene became even more flustered as he descended into panic. He began shuffling through the papers on his desk again maniacally. Unfortunately, his elbow hit the stack of prom leaflets, sending them flying again.
Shelley Cope met Charlie's frustrated gaze. It was clear this was a daily ritual for her. She hastily abandoned her binders and bent down to gather up the leaflets, making sure to keep her distance from Charlie as he did the same. She didn't want another clash of heads. Once everything was in some sort of order again, she picked up her binders and exited the office.
"Aha!" Harold Greene said with a flourish. He waved a coffee-stained piece of paper in Bella's face. "There is your timetable. I knew it was here somewhere."
Grim faced, Charlie snatched the timetable out of the principal's hand, making the other man recoil in fear. He passed it to Bella. She took it from him, catching sight of the name on the top of the sheet – which was most definitely not hers.
"This says Mike Newton." She said in confusion.
Harold Greene looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming car as Charlie's laser like focus returned to him. Sweat broke out on his forehead as he began talking so fast, he was almost incoherent.
"Of course it does. You share most of Mike's classes."
"But I don't know who Mike Newton is." Bella replied helplessly.
Harold Greene tugged on the collar of his shirt as he emitted a nervous chuckle. "Oh my, everyone knows the Newton family, my dear. They own the sporting good's store on the outskirts of town – Newton's Outfitters – you must have been in there?"
"For fu – "Charlie muttered under his breath as he fought to keep his composure. "Like I explained in our previous phone conversation, my daughter is suffering from partial memory loss. She doesn't recall anything about her time here. That is why I specifically asked for you to appoint someone to chaperone her for a short while until she gets her bearings and the walking cast comes off."
Harold Greene looked like he wanted a hole to open underneath him so he could crawl into it and hide from Charlie's wrath. "And I did. I have. Um…. SHELLEY!" He called to his secretary.
Shelley Cope poked her head around the door. "Yes, Harold?"
"Bella needs some assistance. Get someone to do that, would you?"
Shelley gave him another impatient eyeroll. "You are lucky I thought ahead. Edward and Alice Cullen are waiting in the hall to do just that. I'll bring them in."
Bella paled considerably at the mention of Edward's name while Charlie just exploded. He stood up, leaning so far over the principal's desk that Harold Greene nearly fell backwards out of his chair as he scrambled to get away.
"How did an incompetent fool like you ever manage to get promoted to principal?" He bellowed in frustration. "I made it quite clear that I did not want that young man or any of his family near my daughter!"
"Of course, of course. I knew that. Shelley, I told you anyone but the Cullens." Harold Greene answered in a strangled tone, immediately throwing his secretary under the bus.
"No, you did not!" Shelley Cope sniffed indignantly.
"Shelley, please, just do your job." Harold Greene ignored her sour look as he pulled nervously at his shirt collar. "Just go and get someone else. Anyone else."
"Like who?" Shelley demanded sulkily.
"The Newton boy. Get him! He'll do!" Harold Greene said desperately as he tried to avoid Charlie's blistering gaze.
"Fine." Shelley Cope snapped as she shut the door loudly behind her, startling Bella, and the loud noise causing Harold Greene to topple out of his chair completely.
"Hi, Bella, I'm Mike." A male voice said.
Bella looked up to see a cute, baby-faced boy, his pale hair carefully gelled into messy disarray, not dissimilar to Edward Cullen's usual style, smiling at her in a friendly way.
"Oh, hi, Mike." Bella greeted him with a nervous smile.
"Let me carry that for you." Mike offered as he pointed at the back pack hanging on her left shoulder.
"Oh, thanks." Bella said gratefully.
Charlie seemed satisfied that his daughter was in safe hands now. He smiled, reaching out to give her an awkward one-armed hug. "I'll pick you up later." He promised. "Have a good one, kiddo."
"You too, Dad." Bella felt a little bereft watching him go. She was the new girl all over again.
"So apparently you have all the same classes as me now." Mike said conversationally as he held out his arm for Bella to take. She slipped her hand under his elbow, thankful for the support as she shuffled along beside him. "Unfortunately, the next class is gym. I bet you're glad you'll only be watching. I know how much you hate it." He chuckled.
"How do you know that?" Bella asked in confusion.
"Oh, we're gym buddies and good friends." Mike explained. "You really have no memory at all about your time here?"
"No." Bella replied in a small voice.
"It must be so confusing." Mike patted her hand sympathetically. "Don't worry. I'll look out for you. And I'll reintroduce you to all the others. They're all eager to see you again." He paused momentarily as they continued their slow walk to the gym. "Although I must say I am surprised that Cullen isn't the one chaperoning you. You two were basically attached at the hip before."
Bella grimaced as the familiar dread twisted her stomach into knots. She knew she was going to run into Edward and his family at some point. There was no avoiding it when they attended the same school, but the thought was unnerving.
"I don't remember Edward."
"Of course you don't. Sorry, what was I thinking!" Mike brightened up at this news. "Its probably for the best. The guy is weird."
Bella hobbled slowly alongside him, feeling curious at his reaction. "You don't like Edward?"
"Not really. He's a bit of an oddball. He doesn't mix with anyone other than you or his own family." Mike confided in a low voice, glancing around nervously as if he expected Edward Cullen to jump out at him from the shadows. Bella could relate. That was exactly her reaction whenever she thought about Edward, which she tried to do as little as possible. The sinister things he had said at the hospital continued to haunt her nightmares.
"Well lets just hope he sticks to his own family again." Bella replied hopefully.
Mike stared at her in surprise, mixed with triumph. "Wow, you really are over him. That is so cool. Well done you." He laughed, holding up his hand and high fiving her.
"Um…thanks?" Bella mumbled, feeling slightly embarrassed and a little overwhelmed. She was going to have to deal with a lot of these odd interactions today. She supposed she was just going to have to suck it up and get used to it.
They continued to walk to class together. Mike was a chatterer – he supplied most of the conversation, which put Bella at her ease. He'd lived in California since he was ten, so he knew how she felt about the sun.
They finally reached the gym. Mike handed Bella her backpack, promising to be right there waiting for her after class. Bella smiled at him before hobbling into the girl's locker room door. Mike was friendly and clearly admiring. A little too admiring. Bella had an inkling he was nursing a bit of a crush. She would have to be careful not to cultivate it.
The gym teacher, Coach Clapp, barely acknowledged Bella as she told her to sit in the office and read a book or something.
"It's not like you participated much anyway." She said rudely, before stalking off to supervise the other students.
Bella felt her face burn in response. It seemed that the Coach was well versed in her unfailing ability to trip over her own feet. She wasn't cut out for sports in any way, shape or form. P.E was literally her idea of hell on Earth.
Burying her nose in an old, worn copy of Wuthering Heights, Bella lost herself in Heathcliff and Cathy's toxic romance, only resurfacing again when the bell rang to signal the end of class. Reluctantly she stashed the tattered book back in her backpack and waited for Mike Newton to collect her.
Mike escorted Bella to her English class and took the empty seat next to her. She was grateful for his companionship, feeling stifled by the many curious stares that the other students were throwing her way. It seemed everyone was aware of her story. It had spread like wildfire once they found out about her 'accident.'
At lunch Mike introduced her to some others in their friendship group. There was another guy called Eric, a girl called Jessica- who though much shorter than Bella- her mass of curly black hair making up for the extra few inches, and several other people that Bella struggled to remember. Slowly she began to feel like she was treading water instead of drowning in it.
She had been dreading lunch, fretting that it would probably be the one place where it would be difficult to avoid seeing Edward Cullen and his family. As soon as she entered the cafeteria with Mike – trying to keep her eyes from sweeping the place for him, and failing entirely – she saw that four of his siblings of sorts (she assumed they were his siblings, they all had the same eye color and smooth bone-white skin) sitting together at a table as far removed from the student body as possible. However, much to her relief, Edward was not with them.
Mike chattered on as usual, but Bella was only half listening. Jessica, the one with the abundant head of curly, black hair seemed elated by his attention. She leaned across Bella, none-too-subtly edging her out of the conversation as she tried to dominate Mike's attention. Bella left her to it, she was feeling terribly uncomfortable, her anxiety kicking in as she worried whether Edward was just late to arrive or he wasn't coming to the cafeteria at all.
Thankfully, he didn't come, and as time passed Bella was able to relax a little. She elbowed a fuming Jessica out of the way as she leaned forward to eat the ham and pickle sandwich that Mike had fetched for her, ignoring the other girl's furious glares as she took a huge bite and chewed loudly. She could already hear Leah Clearwater's voice in her head telling her to tone the noise down.
After lunch Mike escorted her to biology. He sat faithfully by her side in the empty seat next to hers, looking very much like a golden retriever as he fetched and carried things for her without asking. He started rambling on about prom and how they were getting a group together instead of pairing off into couples.
"You should come." He said eagerly, making his attraction all too obvious.
"I can't dance, remember?" Bella said with a weak smile. "My leg." She shrugged apologetically.
But Mike would not be put off. "That doesn't matter." He declared, acting the gallant gentlemen. "I'll help you get around."
Bella sighed, it looked like she was going to have to do something about Mike, and it wouldn't be easy. In a small town like this, where everyone lived on top of everyone else, diplomacy was essential. She had never been enormously tactful; she had no practice dealing with overly friendly boys.
Bella frowned when she considered this. Is that how Edward Cullen had reeled her in? Had she been too afraid of upsetting him and gone along with his unwanted attentions because she was too timid to speak up? Jeez, she hoped she wasn't that weak minded. No, she decided, that couldn't be it. So, what then? She couldn't get away from the nagging suspicion that there was something not quite right about the whole relationship. Surely if she had been that into him there would have been some kind of lingering feeling, some sense of attraction, even if she didn't remember him. She continued to worry about it right until the bell rang, signaling the end of the lesson.
As soon as she had come home from the hospital Bella had discovered that Charlie couldn't cook much besides eggs and bacon. So, she requested that she take over the cooking duties and that she would teach him to cook. He was willing enough to let her take over the keys to the banquet hall but balked at having to learn how to cook. After much back and forth, he had finally agreed to learn to put together a few simple meals. Bella had doodled a shopping list during lunch and was going to ask Charlie to drive them to the Thriftway so they could pick up some essentials.
A grinning Mike Newton delivered Bella to Charlie right on time in the parking lot. Somehow, much to Bella's annoyance, he wangled himself an invite to dinner. With his grin now so wide it surely had to be hurting his cheeks, he climbed into the back of the police cruiser and sat next to her.
Glancing out of the side window as Mike continued his inane chatter, Bella saw Edward's family getting into their car. It was a shiny new Volvo. Of course, she hadn't noticed their clothes before – she'd been too busy avoiding looking at them too closely. Now that she really did look, it was obvious that they all dressed exceptionally well, simply, but in clothes that subtly hinted at designer origins. With their remarkable good looks, the style in which they carried themselves, they could have worn dishrags and pulled it off. It seemed excessive for them to have both looks and money, but it didn't stop them being obvious outsiders. There was something strange about all of them, something shudder-inducing. And Bella did just that as the beautiful blonde girl suddenly looked sharply in her direction. She shot Bella such a glare of animosity that Bella recoiled involuntarily. What the hell was her problem? Bella wondered if the icy blonde was pissed that she had rejected her precious brother. Well, that was too freaking bad!
With Mike still happily chewing her ear off, Bella settled down resignedly for a very uncomfortable evening. At least she had Jacob's visit to look forward to as a highlight. Tuning out Mike as Charlie finally managed to pull out of the parking lot and headed in the direction of the Thriftway, Bella became lost in her own thoughts.
A/N-thanks for reading!